U.S. billionaire and Microsoft founder, Bill Gates disclosed that a vaccine for Coronavirus may come between 18-24 months. Gates made this known on NBC Today Show on Friday. He added that there is evidence that this timeline may come to pass.
Usually a vaccine takes over five years, according to him. Bill Gates further explained that there are steps including first testing in animals, then with humans on small, medium and large scales.
But with the coronavirus pandemic, “because of all the incredibly negative effects, the sooner the better, ”
“The best scientists [are] working hard on this,” Gates said.
“In fact, in the last few weeks I’ve seen signs that we may get to the optimistic side of that time projection” for a vaccine. He said.
He also described the coronavirus crisis as “a nightmare,” saying that “the human-to-human respiratory spread is the scariest scenario.”
“I wish it had come, you know, five or 10 years later, then governments might have done the preparation to move quickly, like a few governments did,” Gates said.
“Many countries decided that at the national level, they would orchestrate the testing” for the virus, he said.
“That hasn’t happened in the United States. It might not happen. But, you know, the access to tests is just, you know, chaotic.”
When his opinion was sought about moves toward reopening by some states such as Georgia, Gates said he is “afraid we’ll have some people and some states that move too quickly and have to back off.”
But, he said, “it’s going to be awhile before things go back to normal.”
“I wish I could say that we’re halfway through. But I don’t think so.”
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation works to help all people lead healthy, productive lives. In developing countries, it focuses on improving people’s health and giving them the chance to lift themselves out of hunger and extreme poverty.